Full Value of Parks

Mon, 03 Nov 2008

From Economics to the Intangible

The 'Full Value of Parks' is the first comprehensive look at the values associated with parks and other kinds of protected area. The economic benefits of protected areas are undeniably important, yet the reasons why people care deeply about them usually have little or nothing to do with money. Instead, people value parks as settings of breathtaking beauty, as venues of scientific inquiry, as destinations for much-needed recreation, as places of spiritual self-discovery, even as places where one can go to heal a wounded psyche. Because these reasons are intangible, however, they also are hard to analyze. Thus there has never been a review of the full range of benefits and values of protected areas. This book fills that gap